An asteroid the size of a tour bus zipped past the earth in a flyby so close that it was nearer to the planet than some satellites, Nasa scientists have said.
The space rock, called asteroid 2011 MD, reached its closest point to the earth just after 17.00 GMT on Monday, when it crept within 12,000km of the planet before whipping away again like a slingshot. The asteroid, which was discovered on June 22, was flying over the southern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Antarctica at the time of its closest approach. But, there was never any risk of it impacting the earth, the scientists said. “The asteroid was flying over the southern Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Antarctica, at the time of its closest approach,” space.com reported. The asteroid belonged to those rather diminutive group of space rocks, and no harm was predicted by astronomers even as it closed in on the earth ominously. Asteroids this size can be expected to buzz the earth with close shaves about once every six years, they added. The space rock flew well below geosynchronous satellites, which orbit 22,236 miles above the earth, but well above the 220-mile altitude of the International Space Station.
There was little chance the asteroid would hit a satellite because of the vastness of space and the relatively small number of satellites, experts said.
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Thatcher handbag fetches £25K
London: A handbag belonging to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sold for £25,000 at a charity auction late on Monday, Christie’s said. Best-selling author and former Conservative politician Jeffrey Archer was wielding the gavel at the auctioneer’s London showrooms at a sale where proceeds went to the charity chosen by each contributing sportsman, politician or musician.
Top price on the night was paid for the chief timekeeper’s stop watch that recorded Roger Bannister’s first four-minute mile in 1954. Donated by Archer himself, it fetched £97,250 and proceeds will go to the Oxford University Athletics Club. Archer had said before the sale that he expected Thatcher’s handbag, which she owned for over 30 years, to sell for around £100,000, but in the end it fetched a quarter of the amount. It was pictured with the former Prime Minister alongside US President Ronald Reagan during her visit to the US in 1985. —Reuters